The present invention relates to communication systems generally and more particularly to television and pay television systems and to methods and devices which are employed to operate various functions in television and pay television systems.
There are known in the art voice activation devices which are used to activate various apparatus and systems. Typically, the voice activation devices are employed to turn on and off an appliance, such as a lighting system, a security system and a personal terminal.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,199,080 and 5,226,090 describe a voice-operated remote control system which transmits a remote control signal in response to a voice command. The remote control of U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,080 has a speech recognition circuit for recognizing the voice command. The remote control system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,090 further includes a detector for detecting whether a voice command is received or not.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,111 describes a customized personal terminal device which is capable of operating in response to input data peculiar to the operator and comprises a speech recognition unit for recognizing inputted speech, an image recognition unit for recognizing inputted image, and an instruction recognition unit for recognizing an inputted instruction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,960 describes an electronic facial tracking and detection system and method and apparatus for automated speech recognition which includes circuitry for obtaining a video image of an individual""s face, circuitry for electronically locating and tracking a first feature, such as the nostrils, of the facial image for use as reference coordinates, and circuitry responsive to the reference coordinates for locating and tracking a second facial feature, such as the mouth, of the facial image with respect to the first feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,385 describes a system and a method for providing an expandable home automation controller which supports multiple numbers and multiple different types of data communications with both appliances and subsystems within the home as well as systems external to the home. The system allows for the input of commands by a variety of means such as touchscreens, voice recognition systems, telephones, custom switches or any device capable of providing an input to a computer system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,149 describes a voice-recognition camera for taking photographs by voice recognition operations. The camera comprises a microphone through which voiced command words of an operator are registered in a computer as a form of digital data.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,121 describes a system which controls a television receiver to allow user selection of broadcast programs from schedule information.
In an article entitled xe2x80x9cVision system finds faces in a crowdxe2x80x9d on pages 52-56 in the Laser Focus Magazine of November 1996, a vision system which includes a software called Facelt published by Visionics Corporation of Metuchen, N.J. is described. The system won a competition that was part of a program named FERET which is funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In the competition various automated face recognition systems were tested using a single database of thousands of faces that includes a wide range of ages races and poses.
Conventional voice recognition systems are described in a book entitled xe2x80x9cAutomatic Speech Recognition, The Development of the SPHINX Systemxe2x80x9d, by Kai-Fu Lee, Kluwer Academic Publishers, on pp. 1-5, and in a book entitled xe2x80x9cDigital Speech Processing, Synthesis, and Recognitionxe2x80x9d, by Sadaoki Fururi, Marcel Dekker, Inc. Publishing, in Chapter 8.
The disclosures of all references mentioned above and throughout the specification are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention seeks to provide voice activation devices and methods which are employed to operate various functions in entertainment and information communication systems, such as television and pay television systems.
There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a program guide selection system including:
a communication network for communicating program guide information and selection codes which enable selections of operating characteristics of a communication system from the program guide information, the selection codes being associated with the operating characteristics; and
a multiplicity of subscriber units, each including:
a receiver for receiving the program guide information and the selection codes associated with the operating characteristics;
a display for displaying the program guide information and the selection codes to a subscriber;
a microphone which is responsive to a voice expression spoken by the subscriber upon identification, on the display, of a selection code which is associated with a requested one of the operating characteristics, wherein the voice expression includes the selection code; and
a speech recognition unit which is coupled to the microphone and is operative to select the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to the voice expression.
Preferably, the communication network includes at least one of the following: a computer network, a television network, a cable television network, a satellite communication network, a telephone network, and a videophone network.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a subscriber unit for use with a program guide selection system in which program guide information is communicated over a communication network, wherein the program guide information includes operating characteristics of a communication system and selection codes which are associated with the operating characteristics of the communication system, the subscriber unit including:
a receiver for receiving the program guide information and the selection codes associated with the operating characteristics;
a display for displaying the program guide information and the selection codes to a subscriber;
a microphone which is responsive to a voice expression spoken by the subscriber upon identification, on the display, of a selection code which is associated with a requested one of the operating characteristics, wherein the voice expression includes the selection code; and
a speech recognition unit which is coupled to the microphone and is operative to select the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to the voice expression.
Preferably, the speech recognition unit includes an external removable speech recognition module, the subscriber unit includes an interface unit, and the external removable speech recognition module is operative to select the requested one of the operating characteristics via the interface unit.
Additionally, the subscriber unit may include:
a memory which is coupled to the speech recognition unit and is operative to store speech characteristics of the subscriber, and wherein
the speech recognition unit is operative to compare characteristics of the voice expression to the speech characteristics of the subscriber, and to select the requested one of the operating characteristics only when the characteristics of the voice expression substantially matches the speech characteristics of the subscriber.
Preferably, the program guide information is compressed prior to transmission over the communication network, and the subscriber unit includes a compressor/decompressor which is operative to decompress the program guide information, to compress the speech characteristics of the subscriber prior to storage in the memory, and to decompress the speech characteristics of the subscriber upon retrieval from the memory.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is also provided a program guide selection system including:
a communication network for communicating program guide information and selection codes which enable selections of operating characteristics of a communication system from the program guide information, the selection codes being associated with the operating characteristics; and
a multiplicity of subscriber units, each including:
a receiver for receiving the program guide information and the selection codes associated with the operating characteristics;
a microphone which is employed by a subscriber to provide, by speaking, a selection code;
a speech recognition unit which is coupled to the microphone and is customized to respond to the selection codes when spoken by each of multiple speakers in accordance with speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers;
a camera which is operative to take a picture of the subscriber when located in the field of view of the camera;
a processor which is coupled to the speech recognition unit and is operative to associate the speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers with images of each of the multiple speakers taken thereof; and
an image processor, which is coupled to the camera and to the processor, and is operative to compare the picture of the subscriber to the images of each of the multiple speakers and to determine whether the picture of the subscriber is substantially similar to an image of a speaker, wherein
the speech recognition unit is operative, in response to a determination that the picture of the subscriber is substantially similar to the image of the speaker, to select a requested one of the operating characteristics of the communication system associated with the selection code in accordance with a determination by the speech recognition unit that speech characteristics of the subscriber substantially matches speech characteristics associated with the speaker.
Preferably, each of the selection codes includes one of letter characters, number characters, and combination letter and number characters. Additionally, each of the selection codes includes an instruction code associated with an instruction for execution of an operation.
Alternatively or additionally, each of the selection codes includes at least one of words, phrases and sentences. Preferably, each of the selection codes further includes an instruction code associated with an instruction for execution of an operation.
Further, there is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a subscriber unit for use with a program guide selection system in which program guide information is communicated over a communication network, wherein the program guide information includes operating characteristics of a communication system and selection codes which are associated with the operating characteristics of the communication system, the subscriber unit including:
a receiver for receiving the program guide information and the selection codes associated with the operating characteristics;
a microphone which is employed by a subscriber to provide, by speaking, a selection code;
a speech recognition unit which is coupled to the microphone and is customized to respond to the selection codes when spoken by each of multiple speakers in accordance with speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers;
a camera which is operative to take a picture of the subscriber when located in the field of view of the camera;
a processor which is coupled to the speech recognition unit and is operative to associate the speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers with images of each of the multiple speakers taken thereof; and
an image processor, which is coupled to the camera and to the processor, and is operative to compare the picture of the subscriber to the images of each of the multiple speakers and to determine whether the picture of the subscriber is substantially similar to an image of a speaker, wherein
the speech recognition unit is operative, in response to a determination that the picture of the subscriber is substantially similar to the image of the speaker, to select a requested one of the operating characteristics of the communication system associated with the selection code in accordance with a determination by the speech recognition unit that speech characteristics of the subscriber substantially matches speech characteristics associated with the speaker.
Additionally, the subscriber unit includes a memory which communicates with at least one of the processor, the speech recognition unit, and the image processor, wherein the memory is operative to store at least one of the speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers and the images of each of the multiple speakers.
Preferably, the memory includes a removable external memory module, the subscriber unit includes an external memory reader, and the removable external memory module communicates with the at least one of the processor, the speech recognition unit, and the image processor via the external memory reader.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the speech recognition unit includes an external removable speech recognition module, the subscriber unit includes an interface unit, and the external removable speech recognition module is operative to select the requested one of the operating characteristics via the interface unit.
Additionally, the subscriber unit includes an on-screen-display (OSD) unit which is operative to insert on-screen messages in response to instructions provided by at least one of the speech recognition unit and the processor.
Preferably, the subscriber unit includes a decrypter which is operative to decrypt encrypted incoming information in response to an authorization signal provided by at least one of the speech recognition unit and the processor.
Additionally, the subscriber unit includes a compressor/decompressor which is operative to compress the at least one of the speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers and the images of each of the multiple speakers prior to storage in the memory, and to decompress the at least one of the speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers and the images of each of the multiple speakers upon retrieval from the memory.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is also provided a subscriber unit for use with a program guide selection system in which program guide information is communicated over a communication network, wherein the program guide information includes operating characteristics of a communication system, the subscriber unit including:
a receiver for receiving the program guide information including the operating characteristics;
a memory for storing selection codes which enable selections from the operating characteristics;
a processor for associating the selection codes with the operating characteristics;
a display for displaying the program guide information and the selection codes to a subscriber;
a microphone which is responsive to a voice expression spoken by the subscriber upon identification, on the display, of a selection code which is associated with a requested one of operating characteristics, wherein the voice expression includes the selection code; and
a speech recognition unit which is coupled to the microphone and is operative to select the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to the voice expression.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a subscriber unit for use with a program guide selection system in which program guide information is communicated over a communication network, wherein the program guide information includes operating characteristics of a communication system, the subscriber unit including:
a receiver for receiving the program guide information including the operating characteristics;
a microphone which is responsive to speech;
a memory for storing selection codes which enable selections from the operating characteristics, speech characteristics of each of multiple speakers, and images of each of the multiple speakers taken thereof;
a camera which is operative to take a picture of a subscriber when located in the field of view of the camera;
a processor which is operative to associate the selection codes with the operating characteristics, and to associate the speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers with the images of each of the multiple speakers;
an image processor, which is coupled to the camera, to the processor and to the memory and is operative to compare the picture of the subscriber to the images of each of the multiple speakers and to determine whether the picture of the subscriber is substantially similar to an image of a speaker; and
a speech recognition unit which is coupled to the microphone, to the processor and to the memory and is operative, in response to a determination that the picture of the subscriber is substantially similar to the image of the speaker, to select a requested one of the operating characteristics of the communication system in response to a selection code spoken by the subscriber via the microphone and in accordance with a determination, by the speech recognition unit, that speech characteristics of the subscriber substantially matches speech characteristics associated with the speaker.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a determination system for determining, from among a plurality of viewers of a communication system, a viewer who is exclusively authorized to select a requested one of operating characteristics of the communication system, the determination system including:
a camera which is operative to take a picture of the viewer when located in the field of view of the camera; and
an image processor which is coupled to the camera and is operative to compare the picture of the viewer to stored images of the plurality of viewers, to determine whether the picture of the viewer is substantially similar to one of the stored images, and to exclusively authorize the viewer to select the requested one of the operating characteristics of the communication system in response to a determination that the picture of the viewer is substantially similar to one of the stored images.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a voice selection method for enabling a user to select a requested one of operating characteristics of a communication system from a plurality of the operating characteristics of the system which are displayed on a display, the method including:
associating each one of the plurality of the operating characteristics with a selection code;
displaying at least some of the plurality of the operating characteristics and selection codes associated therewith on the display;
identifying, on the display, a requested selection code which corresponds to the requested one of the operating characteristics;
saying a voice expression which includes the requested selection code; and
selecting the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to the voice expression.
Preferably, the selecting step includes:
detecting the voice expression which includes the requested selection code;
verifying that the requested selection code is a legitimate code which is associated with a legitimate selection of one of the operating characteristics; and
executing a selection of the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to the verifying step.
Further, the verifying step also includes the step of recognizing the user as an authorized operator, and the executing step includes executing a selection of the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to verification of the requested selection code and to the recognizing step.
Preferably, the step of saying a voice expression which includes the requested selection code includes:
saying the requested selection code; and
saying an instruction code associated with an instruction for execution of an operation following the step of saying the requested selection code.
Further preferably, each selection code includes at least a letter character and a number character, and the step of saying a voice expression includes sequentially saying the letter character and the number character in any order thereof.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a voice selection method for selecting a requested one of operating characteristics of a communication system from a plurality of the operating characteristics of the system, the method including:
arranging the plurality of the operating characteristics of the system in a two-dimensional table having cells defined by rows, which are each associated with a separate character from a first series of characters, and by columns, which are each associated with a separate character from a second series of characters;
displaying, on a display, the two-dimensional table, the characters associated with the rows, and the characters associated with the columns;
identifying a cell which corresponds to the requested one of the operating characteristics;
recognizing a row and a column which define the cell;
saying a voice expression which includes sequentially saying a character which is associated with the row and a character which is associated with the column in any order thereof; and
selecting the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to the voice expression.
Preferably, the first series of characters includes letter characters, the second series of characters includes number characters, and the step of saying a voice expression includes sequentially saying a letter character which is associated with the row and a number character which is associated with the column in any order thereof.
Alternatively, the first series of characters and the second series of characters include letter characters, and the step of saying a voice expression includes sequentially saying a letter character which is associated with the row and a letter character which is associated with the column in any order thereof.
Further alternatively, the first series of characters and the second series of characters include number characters, and the step of saying a voice expression includes sequentially saying a number character which is associated with the row and a number character which is associated with the column in any order thereof.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention there is also provided a voice selection method for selecting a requested one of operating characteristics of a communication system from a plurality of the operating characteristics of the system, the method including:
arranging the plurality of the operating characteristics of the system in a one-dimensional table having cells defined by rows which are each associated with a separate character from a series of characters;
displaying, on a display, the one-dimensional table and the characters associated with the rows;
identifying a cell which corresponds to the requested one of the operating characteristics;
recognizing a row that defines the cell;
saying a voice expression which includes a character that is associated with the row; and
selecting the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to the voice expression.
Preferably, the series of characters includes one of letter characters, number characters, and combination letter and number characters.
In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a voice selection method for selecting a requested one of operating characteristics of a communication system from a plurality of the operating characteristics of the system which are displayed on a display, the method including:
arranging the plurality of the operating characteristics of the system in a display screen having pre-positioned selection areas which are each associated with a selection code from a series of codes;
displaying, on the display, the screen having pre-positioned selection areas and the series of codes associated with the selection areas;
identifying an area which corresponds to the requested one of the operating characteristics;
recognizing a requested selection code which is associated with the area;
saying a voice expression which includes the requested selection code which is associated with the area; and
selecting the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to the voice expression.
Preferably, the step of saying a voice expression which includes the requested selection code includes:
saying the requested selection code; and
saying an instruction code associated with an instruction for execution of an operation following the step of saying the requested selection code.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a voice selection method for enabling a user to select a requested one of operating characteristics of a communication system from a plurality of the operating characteristics of the system which are displayed on a display, the method including:
providing a speech recognition unit which is operative to respond to speech from multiple speakers;
storing speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers;
associating the speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers with images of each of the multiple speakers taken thereof;
providing a camera which is operative to take a picture of the user when located in the field of view of the camera;
comparing the picture of the user to the images of the multiple speakers;
determining that the picture of the user is substantially similar to an image of a speaker; and
executing, in response to the determining step and in accordance with a determination, by the speech recognition unit, that speech characteristics of the user substantially matches speech characteristics associated with the speaker, a voice command which is spoken by the user only and is associated with the requested one of the operating characteristics.
Preferably, the executing step includes:
detecting the voice command spoken by the user;
verifying that the voice command is a legitimate command which is associated with a selection of the requested one of the operating characteristics; and
selecting the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to the verifying step.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is further provided a voice selection method for enabling a user to select a requested one of operating characteristics of a communication system from a plurality of the operating characteristics of the system which are displayed on a display, the method including:
receiving the plurality of the operating characteristics;
storing selection codes which enable selections from the plurality of the operating characteristics;
associating the plurality of the operating characteristics with the selection codes;
displaying the plurality of the operating characteristics and the selection codes associated therewith to a subscriber;
identifying, on the display, a requested selection code which corresponds to the requested one of the operating characteristics;
saying a voice expression which includes the requested selection code; and
selecting the requested one of the operating characteristics in response to the voice expression.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a voice selection method for enabling a user to select a requested one of operating characteristics of a communication system from a plurality of operating characteristics of the system which are displayed on a display, the method including:
receiving the plurality of the operating characteristics;
storing selection codes which enable selections from the plurality of the operating characteristics, speech characteristics of each of multiple speakers, and images of each of the multiple speakers taken thereof;
associating the selection codes with the plurality of the operating characteristics;
associating the speech characteristics of each of the multiple speakers with the images of each of the multiple speakers;
taking a picture of a subscriber when located in the field of view of the camera;
comparing the picture of the subscriber to the images of the multiple speakers;
determining that the picture of the subscriber is substantially similar to an image of a speaker;
providing a microphone via which the subscriber speaks a selection code;
determining that speech characteristics associated with the selection code as spoken by the subscriber substantially matches speech characteristics associated with the speaker; and
selecting a requested one of the operating characteristics of the communication system which is associated with the selection code in response to determination that the picture of the subscriber is substantially similar to the image of the speaker, and in response to determination that the speech characteristics associated with the selection code as spoken by the subscriber substantially matches the speech characteristics associated with the speaker.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a method of determining a viewer who is exclusively authorized to select a requested one of operating characteristics of a communication system from among a plurality of viewers of the communication system, the method including:
providing a camera which is operative to take a picture of the viewer when located in the field of view of the camera;
comparing the picture of the viewer to stored images of the plurality of viewers;
determining that the picture of the viewer is substantially similar to one of the stored images; and
exclusively authorizing the viewer to select the requested one of the operating characteristics of the communication system in response to the determining step.